Elm

[Lucasade]

I've just been given some pieces of elm:









As this is the first elm I have ever knowingly laid eyes on, please could I ask your opinions whether I might get a heavy bow out of any of them?

Obviously the shorter piece will make a child's bow. The middle piece is 84" long, 4"x3" at the base and 3"x2" at the top. The other piece is 86" long (70" to the kink), 3" diameter.

Reading around it looks like I should treat it basically like ash - is this about right? And how long does it need to season for?

Thank you in advance!

[Del the cat]

Middle bit looks good.
Yes, treat it like Ash, flattish belly, narrowed back, heat treated belly, keep it long.
I made one some time back, it turned out very nicely, it's on my blog if you search for Elm or Elm Warbow.
Keep the underbark surface as the back of the bow.
Leave the bark on, seal the ends give it a year to season, some people may advise you remove the bark early. Whenever you take the bark off do it V carefully to give yourself a perfect back.
Del

[Lucasade]

Great - I'll take a look. Presumably I need to paint the ends of these too?

[Del the cat]

Blimey you replied before I finished editing!
Yes paint ends... (plus 1/2" up the stave for good measure)
In the first pic there is a union (fork or big side branch) near the end of the middle bit... nearest the lower edge of the pic) that could be problematic... but weird stuff right near the tip of a bow limb can be ok as thee is so little leverage on it. Leave it full length and see what ith looks like inside when you start working it down ...
As it's a small log I'd be tempted to rough it out early allowing plenty of oversize (to allow for movement). As a minimum I'd decide where the back is and remove some wood from the belly and a little from the sides to help remove tension from the back as it dries. Say taking down to 50mm square all along. Then work it down further after about 9 months.
Some people may advise leaving it in the round... we all have different preferences.
Del

[WillS]

You lucky boy! I'm jealous as heck.  That forky bit should be ok I think, I had one of them on an early yew bow I made and I ended up ploughing through it like it didn't exist and it worked out ok.  That was yew though - elm is probably a bit more fussy.  Good luck dude, post pics so I can drool over them.

[Lucasade]

I couldn't believe it - I mentioned to someone at church this morning that I was starting making bows and he said he had some elm he'd cut yesterday. That's the bit on the right. Then we wandered round his field and saw another growing in the hedge so he got the saw and that produced the other two bits. Apparently they grow fine until a certain size then the Dutch Elm disease gets them, so if you time it right there's some about in hedges. Even better the field's big enough to shoot in so if it works the bow will be shot just a few feet from where the tree grew! I just need to not mess it up, but at least I've got two spares to practice on...

[PatM]

Only one of those looks like Elm.  Does your elm go through a smoother bark phase?

[Lucasade]

Not sure - I've not seen enough of it. The person whose field it came from has lived there for over twenty years and told me it's an elm hedge that they came out of, but that's the only information I've got.

***

I've just looked at the staves and they all have the same bark structure, so I guess they must have a smooth bark phase.

[mikekeswick]

Personally I'd only use half of the middle one.
To make it a lot easier for yourself (seeing as you are just starting out?) look for the straighest, knotfree staves you can. This will make tillering easier to read. Sure it's probably possible to get a bow out of them all but why make it a battle  Once your eye is devolped and you understand how to strain the wood evenly character staves can become fun.

[Lucasade]

The middle one is the one I'll be going for - I'm not going to be greedy and risk splitting that stave so I'll just go for the one bow. The intention with the other two bits is to use them for practice so I can learn how elm works, if a bow pops out of them at the other end so much better. I might have got myself access to as much hazel as I can coppice this winter which will be ideal for learning the basics.

PS I don't know if you got my text apologising for wasting your time carting a stave to Cornwall and back?

[TheDukesArchers]

I'm actually thinking of making an elm longbow to hunt with. Either that or Ash.